Continuous ice-making machines



Sept. 1, 1970 H. A. BRIEL CONTINUOUS ICE-MAKING MACHINES Filed April 5, 1968 N f m 2 1| m 2 5 W a i v m m 8 6 0% 3%; a L i; g; i* 4 i i if? L 1 M I rum: m m

United States Patent Office Int. Cl. F25c 1/08 Us. or. 62-136 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A continuous ice-making machine comprises a hopper having a first and a second chamber; the hopper being rotatable between a first position in which water is fed into the first chamber and a second position in which the water passes to the second chamber where icing is effected by an evaporator in the form of a series of fingers, the hopper being biased to the first position and rotation taking place once the water in the first chamber reaches a predetermined level; a releasable catch to hold the hopper in the second position, a stirrer carried on a rotatable shaft and adapted to release the catch when its movement is obstructed by the formation of ice, the stirrer acting between the fingers of the evaporator, and means to blow hot gas on the fingers of the evaporator to discharge the ice.

This invention relates to continuous ice-making machines.

Continuous ice-making machines are known in which Water is introduced into a receptacle provided with an evaporator, the arrangement being such that the receptacle is moved away from the evaporator when the ice has formed, so that the ice can be removed. Several machines incorporating automatic means for carrying out this process have been designed, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a machine which is simpler than the prior art machines and which is efficient.

A continuous ice-making machine according to the invention comprises a hopper having a first and a second chamber; a water inlet in the first chamber, the hopper being rotatable between a first and a second position in response to the level of the water in the first chamber, means biasing the hopper to the first position, a passage for water to the second chamber when the hopper is in the second position, means to ice the water in the second chamber, a releasable catch to hold the hopper in the second position and to release the hopper for return to the first position when the water has iced to a predetermined extent in the second chamber, and means to discharge the formed ice.

Further according to the invention a continuous icemaking machine comprises a hopper having a first and a second chamber; a water inlet in the first chamber, the hopper being rotatable between a first and a second position in response to the level of the water in the first chamber, means biasing the hopper tothe first position, a passage for water to the second chamber, an evaporator in the form of a series of fingers in the second chamber, a releasable catch to hold the hopper in the second position, a stirrer between the fingers in the second chamber, a rotatable shaft carrying the stirrer and adapted to release the catch to allow the hopper to return to the first position when the movement of the stirrer is obstructed by'the formation of ice, and means to discharge the ice.

An embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the hopper of a continuous ice-making machine, according to the invention, in its first position,

3,526,100 Patented Sept. 1, 1970 FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the hopper of the ice-making machine in its second position,

FIG. 3 is a sectional diagrammatic side view of the ice-making machine, and

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic sectional view of the icemaking machine along the line 4-4 in FIG. 3.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a water hopper 10 having a first chamber 11 and a second chamber 12 is rotatable about a fulcrum 13. In the first position, illustrated in FIG. 1, water is fed into the first chamber 11 until just above the level M. At this point the centre of gravity of the hopper 10 is displaced to the right of the fulcrum 13 thereby causing the hopper to rotate in a clockwise direction to a second position, illustrated in FIG. 2. During rotation, a water valve 14 (FIG. 3) opens to allow the water'to flow from the first chamber 11 to the second chamber 12. The valve 14 closes an opening 15 between the two chambers in the first position.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the hopper 10, which is biased to the first position, is held in the second position by a catch 16 which engages a lip 17 of the second chamber 12.

Once in the second position the water comes into contact with an evaporator comprising a series of rows of fingers 18 through which a suitable cooling medium flows. The Water is agitated by a number of paddle stirrers 19 mounted on a horizontal rotating shaft 20, each paddle working between two adjacent rows of fingers 18.

As the water is cooled ice 30 forms and builds up around the fingers 18. When the buildup of ice reaches a predetermined level, the rotation of the stirrers 19 is impeded, which impedance causes the catch 16 to be re leased. The release of the catch 16 is caused in the following manner:

With reference to FIG. 4, the shaft 20 carrying the stirrers 19 consists of two sections 21 and 22 joined by a slotted sleeve 23. Lugs 24 on each section are in engagement with slots 25 in the sleeve 23. The catch 16 is so pivoted as at 16, on a fixed structure that the section 21 of the shaft 20 passes through its upper portion 26. A spring 27, abutting a collar 28 on the shaft 20, biases the upper portion 26 against the sleeve 23.

A motor 29 rotates the section 22 which, by virtue of the coupling arrangement, rotates the section 21. However, resistance to rotation of the section 21 results in resistance to the rotation of the sleeve 23 while the section 22 remains rotating freely so that the lug-slot engagement of the section 22 with the sleeve 23 forces the sleeve, and hence the upper portion 26 of the catch 16, to the left. The catch 16 is thus disengaged from the lip 17.

After the release of the catch, the hopper returns to the first position under the influence of gravity where the un-iced water flows out of the second chamber 12. A current of hot gas is blown through the fingers 18 to free the ice which falls off the fingers 18 and thence to storage in a substantially dry form. While this is happening water is again fed into the first chamber 11 in preparation for the next cycle.

The flow of both the water into the chamber 11 and the current of hot gas to free the ice are controlled by solenoid valves 31 which are actuated by a microswitch. The microswtich is on for the first position of the hopper and o for all other positions of the hopper.

I claim:

1. A continuous ice-making machine comprising a hopper having a first and a second chamber; a water inlet in the first chamber, the hopper being rotatable between a first and a second position, a passage for water to the second chamber when the hopper is in the second position, means to ice the water in the second chamber, the second chamber including an evaporator in the form of a series of fingers, a paddle stirrer between adjacent fingers, the stirrer being mounted on a shaft comprising two portions connected by a slotted sleeve having an eccentric portion acting on a catch when there is resistance/t0 rotation of the stirrer, the catch holding the hopper in the second position and releasing it when the water has iced to a predetermined extent.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,027,731 4/ 1962 Lindenberg et al 62-352 3,108,449 10/1963 Lents.

' 9/1964 Archer 62344 4/1968 Hendrix et a1. 62138 U.S. Cl. X.R. 

